History

This article appears as it was written in the Daily Item on July 30, 1998

by M. Paul Jackson, staff reporter

It began as just a hobby, Cindy Creveling remembers. A local racing track featured go-cart racing, she said, and Creveling her husband, Gerry, would sometimes drop by to watch and to race.

But one day the track shut down and that’s when everything changed.

“We decided we weren’t ready to shut down,” said Creveling, 42.

That was 18 years ago. Now the Creveling family are the owners of one of the most popular go-cart racing tracks in the Valley, hosting weekend races that draw as many as 1,000 people a week. “We get to see a lot of racing.”

Located on Bottom Road in Orangeville, the track, known as Action Tracks, has become one of the most successful go-kart and micro sprint tracks in the area.

Beginning with seven go-karts 18 years ago, the track now plays host to between 80 and 100 go-carts each week, Creveling said, and as well as about 60 micro sprints.

The track –which Creveling said must be maintained on a regular basis- taps into people’s growing love of racing, allowing them the joys of experiencing NASCAR racing on a very small scale, she said. Indeed, all the racers supply their own cars.

“People are into racing,” she said. “I think racing is the No. 1 spectator sport right now.

Held on Saturdays from 3 to about 11 p.m., the track draws between 800 and 1,000 people a week, some who come by to race and some who by simply to watch.

The people at the track “are like family,” said Creveling, who has one daughter. “Because we work on weekends, we miss out on reunions and weddings, but with (the people at the track), we’re around them every week and they get to be like family.”

The track draws a wide range of people each week, she said – including school teachers, morticians, and college professors. Indeed, a priest has even driven his own car there, she said.

“Priests have fun too,” Creveling said laughing.

In the future, the family hopes to draw more people into the track – including their 20-year-old daughter, Tiffany, Cindy Creveling said.

“If (people) are into racing, they can see some of the best open field racing right here,” she said.